Chicken & Chickpea Tagine

A very tasty dish from North Africa. It’s a braise, cooked with low moist heat. The name comes from the pot it’s traditionally cooked in, but a Dutch Oven or other heavy pot with lid works fine.

You can up the spice level to your liking, or reduce (or omit) the Cayenne pepper to make it milder.

Makes 4 servings.

• 8          Chicken thighs
•             Salt & fresh ground pepper
• 2 T       Olive oil
• 2 T       Butter
• 1          Large onion, thinly sliced
• 4          Minced garlic cloves
• ½ tsp   Grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp   Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp    Ground ginger
• 1 tsp    Ground cumin
• 1 tsp    Ground coriander
• ½ tsp   Ground black pepper
• ½ tsp   Cayenne
• 2 C       Chopped tomatoes, with their liquid
• 4 C       Chickpeas (drained and rinsed if using canned)
• ½ C      Raisins
• ½ C      Chopped dates
• ½ C      Pine nuts (don’t toast them)
• 1          Vanilla bean (slit, strip, & add the seeds or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
•             Chiffonade mint, cilantro, or parsley for garnish

1. Season the Chicken with Salt & Pepper
2. Heat oil over medium high heat. Brown the chicken, 4 to 5 minutes per side until nicely browned. Remove
3. Add butter, onions, and a pinch of salt. Sweat the onions over reduced (medium low) heat until soft (5 to 10 minute)
4. Add garlic and spices. Cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
5. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, raisins, and vanilla and bring to boil. Add more water if dry, and salt to taste.
6. Nestle the chicken back into the sauce.
7. Cover and adjust the heat in 5 minutes so the mixture simmers steadily. Cook until chicken is very tender, 45 min – 1 hour.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning.
9. Serve over Couscous and garnish.

Variations: Omit the chicken to make the dish vegan. Sweat the onion in vegetable broth to make the dish added fat free.

This is the recipe that Bill prepared on his 2007 Audition for Next Food Network Star.  This is before we went to a Plant Based diet.

Bill & Mary's Oatty Bar Recipe

We developed this recipe as a great snack (or even meal) while riding our bikes or hiking.  They're simple and easy to make, taste great, and they follow our lifestyle diet.  They're Whole Food, Plant Based, with no added fat or sweeteners.

Ingredients: 

• 4 - Ripe Bananas - mashed
• 1 Cup - Fruit Puree - e.g. mashed ripe pears, Unsweetened Apple Sauce, etc. your choice.
• 2 Cups - Blueberries - frozen is fine.
• 1 Cup - Chopped, Toasted Raw Almonds
• 1+ T - Vanilla Extract
• 1+ T - Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp - Ground Nutmeg
• ½ tsp - Kosher Salt (optional for hot days)
• 6 Cups - "Old Fashioned Oatmeal" - the 5 minute kind, NOT instant.
• ¾ to 1½ - Cup Water (optional if mix is too dry)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Combine bananas and fruit puree and mix to combine.  You can use a potato masher if starting with whole ripe fruit.
• Add the Blueberries, Almonds, and Seasonings and mix to combine.
• Add the Oatmeal and mix to combine.
• At this point the mixture should be very moist, but not wet.  If too dry, add water and continue mixing.
• Pour mixture into an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish lined with Parchment paper We don't use any oil or spray - you don't need to do anything fancy with the parchment, a wrinkle won't hurt, we just push it down into the pan, make sure that the parchment extends above all 4 sides of the pan.  You can use a bigger baking disk if you like a thinner, chewier bar.  
• Distribute the mixture to an even thickness and smooth the top.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 F.  It's done when the center of the pan is firm.
• Remove from the oven and cool completely.  We generally leave the pan on a cooling rack for about half an hour, then lift the contents out by the parchment and place on a cooling rack.  After another hour or so, we flip the bars onto the other side and peel off the parchment.
• When cooled to room temperature, you can cut the bars with a sharp knife. We generally cut in half and then in half again, each way to make 16 bars. If the middle four are still too moist to hold together, pop those back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 350.

Troubleshooting:

• Too Dry - next time add more fruit puree and/or cut down baking time (but don't go under 30 minutes)
• Too Wet - pop back in the oven at 350 F.  Next time, increase cooking time or cut down on fruit puree and/or water.
• Think it needs something else?  Try a little ground clove or other spices. This also pretty much works with any ripe fruit or fruit puree.

Let us know what you think and if these work for you!

Cheers,

Bill and Mary

Memo’s (Bill’s) Pancakes

We developed this recipe a few years back when we changed our lifestyle diet (see: Our Lifestyle Diet). It was so good, we got it on the menu at that Vallarta Yacht Club. It has no added fat or sweetener and no artificial ingredients.

This recipe can be used to make either Waffles or pancakes can be frozen and reheated in the oven, microwave, or toaster. When used for pancakes, it is especially tasty when you add small berries (blueberries, Marionberries, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, etc.) to the mix.

Ingredients:

• 1 - Very ripe Pear, Peach or Banana, mashed (or about 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce if you don't have ripe fruit) 
• 2 Cup - Water 
• ½ Cup - Uncooked Rolled Oats (5 minute Oatmeal, not instant) 
• 1½ Cup - Whole wheat flour 
• 2 tsp - Baking powder 
• 1 tsp - Cinnamon 
• 1 tsp - Nutmeg 
• ½ tsp - Vanilla extract to taste (optional) 

Method:

Mix together the mashed fruit and water. Add dry ingredients and mix, leaving lumps in the batter.

Waffles:

Cook on a waffle iron, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Pancakes:

Pour ½ Cup of batter into a hot, nonstick pan (you may need a quick shot of a nonstick on the pan spray). 

When bubbles rise through the middle of the pancake and break on the top, flip the pancake and cook until browned underneath. (Note: Test the pan before cooking the pancakes by throwing a few drops of water onto it. If the water jumps around and then disappears, the pan is at the correct temperature.)

Top with more fruit, or preserves.

We warm some blueberries (frozen is ok) in a pot and make a quick compote. Great with coffee.

This recipe takes less than five minutes to prepare, not including cooking time.
Notes:

You must leave lumps in the batter. Waffle or pancake batter which is too smooth will spread out very thin on the waffle iron or pan, and the result will be a rubbery, tough cake as you will have mixed enough to develop the Gluten in the flour.

The batter doesn't freeze well but can be refrigerated for a short time. Waffles can be made in large quantities and frozen for future use; this is a good option if your waffle iron is small!

Pancake suggestion: Put small slices of Pear, Apple or banana onto the top of each pancake before flipping, and dribble a small amount of batter onto the pieces of fruit. Finish cooking the pancake according to the recipe.

As shown, recipe makes roughly four waffles; the number of pancakes will vary according to size.

Product Recommendations

Mary and I have added a site with the products that we use and recommend.  Follow this link to get there.

We will only be posting those items here that 1) we recommend and 2) we can refer get you a discount on through Amazon.com.

Our Tasty Multigrain Bread

Our Finished Loaf

We love multigrain bread. Unfortunately, our local bakery stopped making our favorite bread.

So we started to play around with a substitute recipe using the ingredients on the label and came up with this great tasting, low salt, no fat bread.   It tastes great and is good for you too!

We make it in our Zojirushi BCC X20 bread machine on it's basic Wheat Bread setting.   This is a 2 pound machine and this loaf weighs just over 2 pounds.

You could also make this machine by hand, but our bread machine does such a great job we let it do it's thing.

You really need to use a scale to measure most of the dry ingredients as volumetric measurement of flour is too imprecise.

If you don't create a perfect loaf, refer to the troubleshooting guide in your bread machine manual.  Since we don't use salt, the ratio of wet ingredients, dry ingredients and yeast needs to be pretty precise.

To start, add to your bread machine:

• 6 T - Unsweetened Apple Sauce (this substitutes for fat)
• 2 T - Malt Extract (mainly for flavor, we buy it at a home brewers supply store)
• 1 - 12 Oz Beer (we use Negra Modello)
• 1 T Lecithin
• ¼ tsp Ascorbic Acid (the Gluten, Lecithin and Ascorbic Acid reinforce the structure of the bread)
• ½ tsp - Salt (controls yeast raise)
• 1½ tsp - Active Dry Yeast

Next add the dry ingredients:

• 230 Grams - Whole Wheat Flour
• 230 Grams - Dark Rye Flour
• 60 Grams - Millet Flour
• 60 Grams - Vital Wheat Gluten

Start up the machine and when the bread machine indicates it's time for add ins, we lightly toast these ahead of time on the stovetop in a dry skillet:

• 2 heaping T Caraway Seeds
• 3 heaping T Flax Seeds
• 3 heaping T Millet Seeds
• 3 heaping T Sunflower Seeds

We like this bread in sandwiches or just toasted.  Enjoy!

Veggie Raptor Chili Wins in Puerto Vallarta!

Our Team - Jamie, Linda, Mary, Bill, & Ed 

Our low-fat vegan chili won the 9th Annual Cruisers Chili Cook Off in Puerto Vallarta on December 6, 2008, our 4th win in a row!

We really never thought we had a chance this year.  After 3 consecutive wins out of 3 total entries, we decided to go Vegan!  Who would have thought a Vegan recipe could compete against the other all meat entrants, but we did!  Why, because it tastes so darned fantastic!

The recipe was invented by executive chefs Bill & Mary with assistance in the prep and serving by sous chefs Ed, Linda, & Jamie.

Here are our prior 3 wins with the links to the 2 that are available online.

• "Raptor Red" Chili - Vallarta Yacht Club Chili Cookoff - December 2007
• "Raptor Red, Top of the Food Chain" Chili - Sailfest, Zihuatanejo Chili Cookoff - February 2007
• Queen Anne's Revenge Chili - Vallarta Yacht Club Chili Cookoff - December 2006

We have reduced this recipe to a more manageable size for you all, rather than the amount we made for the Chili Cook Off (5+ Gallons). We have given approximate amounts as there is no exact recipe – judge by sight, tasting along the way. We didn't follow anyone else's recipe but created this between us. This should make just over a gallon of Chili.

With the vegetables (corn, carrots, onions, garlic), plantains and beans judge by sight what ratio looks best – the finished product should have a pleasing appearance as well as taste.

When you are all done the flavor component contributors are: the green sauce and limes for brightness; the plantain, garlic and onion, for sweetness; and the chilies, por su puesto (of course), for heat.

The basic outline is:

1. Cook the beans separately,
2. Mix the green sauce ahead or while the vegetables are cooking,
3. Sauté the base vegetable group,
4. Add the tomatoes,
5. Add the beans, more vegetables and seasonings and cook to blend the flavors,
6. Taste and add the green sauce,
7. Taste and add plantain,
8. Taste and adjust balance and seasoning as necessary.

Green sauce: This is a good sauce on it's own too.

• Tomatillos - 2 cups+ rough cut
• Cilantro - 1 bunch remove any tough stems
• Garlic - 1 clove
• Jalapeño – 1 rough cut

Process tomatillos in a blender, add the remaining ingredients and blend. Taste. If the tomatillos are older, you may need to add some lime juice.

Beans:

• black beans - 2 cups dry (makes 2 quarts)
• dried pasilla pepper - 1

Soak he beans overnight - 4 to 8 hours in cold water.
Remove the seeds from the pasilla pepper and lightly toast in a dry pan.

Cook the pepper and beans, in sufficient water in a pressure cooker 10 minutes on second ring or simmer on top of the stove in a regular pot, checking for doneness, for up to an hour.
Be careful not to overcook the beans so they do not fall apart in the chili.

Before draining the beans, taste the cooking water. It should have a nice flavor. If it is, save some to add at any point that you need water or need to thin the chili.

Chili:

• chopped onions - 4 cups, +1/2 cup reserved for garnish
• diced carrots - 2 cups, +1 cup reserved
• diced celery - 1 cup
• garlic, whole cloves - 10-20, +10 coarse chopped reserved
• tomatoes - 2 16oz cans chopped or whole tomatoes chopped
• tomato paste - 1 can
• cumin - 1+ teaspoon
• coriander - 1+ teaspoon
• jalapeños - 2+ as desired
• poblanos - 2+ as desired
• dried pasilla - 1+ as desired, seeds removed
• chipotle powder - 3/4-1 tablespoon or more. This is another thing to judge by taste. Add more as needed rather than too much to start with.
• árbol chilies - as many as necessary to bring it to the heat level that you want
• corn - 2 cups
• very ripe (black) plantains - 3 diced

The Process:

• Cook the black beans and make the green sauce as described above.
• In a pot that will hold at least 6 quarts, Sauté the onion, carrots and celery in a small amount of water (just enough water to keep the vegetables from sticking in the beginning).
• During the cooking process if your batch gets too thick, thin with bean cooking liquid or water.
• When this softens add the whole garlic cloves.
• Cook to soften the garlic.
• Remove seeds from pasilla, toast the pasilla lightly in a dry pan.
• Now either puree in a blender with some of the tomatoes or chop.
• Add pasillas and the additional tomatoes, diced carrots and corn.
• Sauté the tomato paste until a rust color in a pan with a little water, add to the vegetables.
• Now add the beans, jalapeños, poblanos, reserved chopped garlic, coriander, pasilla, cumin and chipotle.
• Simmer to blend the seasonings and cook the carrots – about 20 minutes
• Taste for balance and heat. Add additional seasonings as needed.
• Add the green sauce.
• Taste. You may be happy with it right here and just need to balance the flavors. Or continue and add the chopped plantain.
• Taste and adjust for heat and acidity. Add lime juice to make the taste brighter.
• Serve with your choice of toppings, we like chopped raw white onions and chopped jalapeños.

Raptor Red Chili - Version 2.0 - The Winner in Paradise

This recipe won at the December 1, 2007 Charity Chili Cook Off at the Vallarta Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico.

So far, we've entered three Chili Cook Offs in the last year and won all three!

This recipe is an update of our winner from Zihuatanejo (see that recipe). We lightened the chili up a bit and adapted to the greater volume (5 gal) needed for this competition.

This recipe is fairly complex and should be prepared at least a day ahead to allow the flavors to blend. It freezes and reheats well. Serve with a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crema (recipe below).

You will need to do a lot of tasting as you go along to get the best results.

The pot is important. It should be big enough to hold the whole batch. The pot should also have a thick bottom to spread the heat so the chili doesn't burn.

We don't have a big pot on board, so we used one supplied by the Yacht Club. That pot was non-reactive stainless steel (it's important to not use uncoated aluminum). It had a capacity of nearly 6 gallons, but it was thin metal and had a warped bottom and would not heat properly on the stove. We mitigated the issue by heating the whole put in the oven at just over 325° F, stirring at least every hour.

On the day of the contest, we put the pot over 3 concrete blocks and used Sterno to keep it hot - then stirring every few minutes while we dished out the samples.

The following makes approximately 5 gallons of Chili.

-----

Preparation:

The Meat:

The meat is very important. You want a flavorful cut of beef with some connective tissue. We prefer skirt steak or flank steak. We used 7.5+ Kilos (about 16 pounds) of un-marinated Arrachara, Mexican skirt steak.

Cut the meat into cubes (do not use ground meat). For meal or side dish sized servings, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. For competition sized (tiny) servings, cut into 3/8 inch cubes. Season the beef with salt and pepper.

The Chili Molé (gravy):

We selected a variety of dried and fresh chilies at the local market. If you're not familiar with the chilies, you should taste a sliver of each (after toasting and rehydration of the dried ones) to help you balance the flavor. You may need to use more or less of each based on their size and flavor.

A good guide to identifying chilies can be found on the web at http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/pages/varietys1.html

You can also substitute canned chipotlés in adobo sauce for the dried. Just skip the soaking and skinning step and include the adobo with the chipotlés in the blender, more chipotlés will yield a smokier product.

Dried Chilies (possibly more of each if small, buy extras):
4 Chipotlé
6 Ancho
8 Pasilla
5 Cascabel
8 New Mexican
6 Guajillo

Remove the seeds and stems from the dried chilies. Then toast the dried chilies (except the chipotlés) in a dry pan until fragrant, be careful not to burn.

Pour boiling water over the toasted chilies and allow to rehydrate 30 minutes.

Scrape the meat off the skin of the chipotlés and cascabeles (or any other thick skinned chilies) and put in a blender. Do not use their skins. Thin skin chilies can be added directly to the blender.

Add water to the blender to cover. Taste the chili soaking water and use it if not bitter. Blend until smooth.

Strain through a sieve to produce around 2 liters of a very thick sauce.

The Aromatics:

8 Poblano chilies, seeded and diced
10 Jalapeño chilies, seeded and diced
9 Large Red and/or White Onions, finely diced
1 1/2 cup of chopped garlic

Other Ingredients:

* Olive Oil
6 bottles of dark beer, we used Indio
1 bottle red wine (750ml)
3 Oz Mexican Hot Chocolate (they come in pucks about an oz. each) chopped
8 14 1/2 oz cans of chopped tomatoes
2 6 oz can of tomato paste
8 14 1/2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
8 Tbsp ground cumin (or more to taste)
3 Tbsp ground arbol chilies (more for hotter chili)
6 Tbsp ground ancho chilies
6 Tbsp ground pasilla chilies

Ingredients to balance taste and consistency:

* Beef Broth (we used concentrated bullion and added the equivalent of 1 liter without the liquid)
* Fresh lime juice (we added the juice of 6 large limes)
* Salt and pepper
* Additional ground chilies (or your favorite chili powder)
* Hot Sauce or Salsa
* Thickener as needed - we used 1 part corn starch to 2 parts water. You could also use Masa or even crushed tortilla chips.

-----

Cooking:

Add approximately 1 Tsp Olive Oil in your frying pan (we had 2 pans going at the same time) and brown the beef in small batches.

Do not crowd the pan. You want to brown the beef not steam it, do not burn the beef. When the surface of the beef cubes has a deep brown color, Add the batch of beef to your pot.

Between batches, deglaze the frying pan with some of the beer, reduce slightly and add to the pot.

When all the beef is done, sweat the aromatics in batches. For each batch add 1 Tsp of olive oil to the pan and season each with salt. Add each to the pot when done.

Sweat the fresh chilies, sweat 3 or 4 minutes until fragrant (be careful of the fumes).

Sweat the onions 4 to 6 minutes until translucent.

Sweat the garlic for 1 minute.

Add a little olive oil to your empty fry pan and add the can of tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently until the paste takes on a rust color (1 to 2 minutes). Add to the pot, use beer to get all the tomato paste out of the pan and add to the pot.

Now add the chili molé, chocolate, chopped tomatoes, remaining beer, wine, ground cumin, other ground chilies and black beans to the pot.

Note - REAL Chili does not have beans in it! You can omit them and have a heartier chili. We added them to extend the recipe for the contest and because we like the taste.

If cooking on a stove top, bring the pot up to a gentle simmer, uncovered. Stir frequently to prevent burning and to blend completely. Simmer at least 3 hours until the meat is tender, but still has a little bite to it.

If you cook the chili in a covered pot in a 325°F oven (as we did), it will need to cook at least 4 to 6 hours. Stir at least hourly. The liquid will not reduce as much in the covered pot in the oven as it does uncovered on the stove top, so you will need to use a thickener.

During the cooking, you should taste the chili and add the following ingredients if needed:

* Beef Broth - if needed to reduce thickness
* Thickener - if using corn starch you must bring the chili back to a boil to activate the thickener
* Sweetener (maple syrup, honey or Agave nectar) - if needed to balance the flavor
* Additional chili powder or cayenne to increase flavor and/or heat
* Salt and pepper - to taste
* Hot Sauce or Salsa to increase heat
* Fresh lime juice - at the end of cooking as needed to increase the brightness of the chili

When plating, add a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crema to each serving.

-----

Toasted Cumin Crema (also prepare a day ahead to meld flavors):

1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 Cup Mexican crema or creme fraiche
* salt and pepper to taste

Place the cumin seeds in a dry sauté or fry pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly golden brown and fragrant, do not burn.

Place in a small bowl, stir in the crema and season with salt and pepper to taste. To dispense, put in a squeeze bottle with a big enough nozzle to not clog with the seeds.

Both our "Next Food Network Star" Videos are online!

Hi everyone!

Mary decided to go for it too! Check out her video.

We both had a blast shooting these videos.

We both now have videos posted. The links are:

Mary's Audition Video for the Food Network Show: "Next Food Network Star"

The Miso Salmon Recipe from Mary's Video

The Edamame Puree Recipe from Mary's Video

Bill's Audition Video for the Food Network Show: "Next Food Network Star"

The Tagine Recipe from Bill's Video

Warmest Regards to all,

Mary & Bill

Next Food Network Star?

Hi Everyone!

Most of you know that we love to cook and really enjoy great food.

Lots of our friends commented that we should write a cookbook or
have a cooking show. So we decided that I (Bill) should submit an audition
tape to Food Network for their next season "Next Food Network Star"
program.

We thought you might get a kick our of this 3 minutes video, so We'd like to share it with you.

The video is at:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=13771412
Note - If you're a MySpace user, We'd appreciate a ThumbsUp rating ;-}

You can also find the recipe on our website at http://raptordance.com
(see the Recipe link in top of the left column - then look for
"Tagine", it's currently recipe 13).

Let us know what you all think!

Warmest Regards,
Bill and Mary

Soda Club

One of the really great items that we've been using aboard Raptor Dance since we set off on our cruise is a gadget from a company called "Soda Club" (later renamed "Soda Stream")

This unit is about the size of coffee maker and makes really tasty soft drinks (see picture below). One CO2 canister holds enough gas to carbonate about 110 liters of soda. You make up a liter batch of seltzer at a time and then add the flavoring of your choice.

They sell the flavors at their website, you can mix your own or obtain syrup elsewhere.

It's a really cost effective way to make soda, mixers and saves enormously on storage space.

We bought from the 6 extra carbonators so we don't run out as they can't ship the gas bottles to Mexico. We also stocked up on their Diet Cola, Diet Tonic, Diet Ginger Ale and Diet Lemon/Lime Soda. Their Tonic is much tastier than any we've found in Mexico.

To check out their products, click the link/graphic below (note they do give us a small referral fee if you buy their goodies after following our link).

Also, until October 15th they're running some specials for online orders:
Save $30 on any new soda maker package when you use promotion code FIZZYFALL and
Use promotion code CHEAPGAS to save $15 off any 110-liter spare, licensed carbonators.

Raptor Red Top of the Food Chain Chili Recipe

This is our Chili recipe that won the Chili Cook Off at Sail Fest in Zihuatanejo on Saturday, Feb 3, 2007. It's a flavorful red beef chili with a deep flavor and pleasant back heat.

This is quite a different Chili than our team prepared at Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta which won the competition in December 2006.

This recipe is fairly complex and should be prepared at least a day ahead to allow the flavors to blend. It freezes and reheats well. Serve with a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crema (recipe below).

You will need to do a lot of tasting as you go along to get the best results.

The pot is important. It should be big enough to hold the whole batch. The pot should also have a thick bottom to spread the heat so the chili doesn't burn.

We don't have a big pot on board and borrowed one from fellow cruisers. It was fairly thin metal, so we used a flame spreader.

We used 2 separate fry pans to toast or sweat (lower heat than a sauté) the components before adding to them to the pot.

The following makes approximately 2 gallons of Chili.

-----

Preparation:

The Meat:

The meat is very important. You want a flavorful cut of beef with some connective tissue. Chuck is preferred. Flank steak or skirt steak are also fine. We used 3 Kilos (7 pounds) of un-marinated Arrachara, Mexican skirt steak.

Cut the meat into cubes (do not use ground meat). For meal or side dish sized servings, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. For competition sized (tiny) servings, cut into 3/8 inch cubes. Season the beef with salt and pepper.

The Chili Molé (gravy):

We selected a variety of dried and fresh chilies at the local market. If you're not familiar with the chilies, you should taste a sliver of each (after toasting and rehydration of the dried ones) to help you balance the flavor. You may need to use more or less of each based on their size and flavor.

A good guide to identifying chilies can be found on the web at http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/pages/varietys1.html

Dried Chilies (possibly more of each if small, buy extras):
2 Chipotlé
3 Ancho
4 Pasilla
5 Cascabel
4 New Mexican
3 Guajillo

Remove the seeds and stems from the dried chilies. Then toast the dried chilies (except the chipotles) in a dry pan until fragrant, be careful not to burn.

Pour boiling water over the toasted chilies and allow to rehydrate 30 minutes.

Scrape the meat off the skin of the chipotles and cascabeles (or any other thick skinned chilies) and put in a blender. Do not use their skins. Thin skin chilies can be added directly to the blender.

Add water to the blender to cover. Taste the chili soaking water and use it if not bitter. Blend until smooth.

This should produce around 1 liter of a very thick sauce.

The Aromatics:

3 Poblano chilies, seeded and diced
2 Jalapeño chilies, seeded and diced
3 to 4 Large Red Onions, finely diced
1/2 cup of chopped garlic

Other Ingredients:

* Olive Oil
3 bottles of dark beer, we used Indio
5 Oz of dark, semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3 14 1/2 oz cans of chopped tomatoes
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
3 14 1/2 cans of black beans, drained
3 Tbsp ground cumin

Ingredients to balance taste and consistency:

* Beef Broth
* Fresh lime juice
* Sweetener (maple syrup, honey or Agave nectar)
* Fresh grated nutmeg
* Salt and pepper
* Hot Sauce or Salsa

-----

Cooking:

Add approximately 1 Tsp Olive Oil in your frying pan (we had 2 pans going at the same time) and brown the beef in small batches.

Do not crowd the pan. You want to brown the beef not steam it, do not burn the beef. When the surface of the beef cubes has a deep brown color, Add the batch of beef to your pot.

Between batches, deglaze the frying pan with some of the beer, reduce slightly and add to the pot.

When all the beef is done, add 1 Tsp of Olive Oil to the pan(s) and sweat the aromatics. Season with salt as you add each aromatic.

Start with the fresh Chilies, sweat 2 or 3 minutes until fragrant (be careful of the fumes), add the onions, sweat for 2 minutes more, then add the garlic and sweat for another 1 minute. Add to the pot.

Add a little olive oil to your empty fry pan and add the can of tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently until the paste takes on a rust color (1 to 2 minutes). Add to the pot, use beer to get all the tomato paste out of the pan and add to the pot.

Now add the Chili Molé, chocolate, chopped tomatoes, remaining beer, ground cumin and black beans to the pot.

Note - REAL Chili does not have beans in it! You can omit them and have a heartier chili. We added them to extend the recipe for the contest and because we like the taste.

Bring the pot up to a gentle simmer. Stir frequently to prevent burning and to blend completely. Simmer at least 2 hours until the meat is tender, but still has a little bite to it.

During the cooking, you should taste the chili and add the following ingredients:

* Beef Broth - as needed to reduce thickness
* Fresh lime juice - as needed to increase the brightness of the chili
* Sweetener (maple syrup, honey or Agave nectar) - as needed to balance the flavor
* Fresh grated nutmeg - as needed to add flavor complexity
* Salt and pepper - to taste
* Hot Sauce or Salsa to increase heat

When plating, add a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crema to each serving.

-----

Toasted Cumin Crema (also prepare a day ahead to meld flavors):

1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 Cup Mexican crema or creme fraiche
* salt and pepper to taste

Place the cumin seeds in a dry sauté or fry pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly golden brown and fragrant, do not burn.

Place in a small bowl, stir in the crema and season with salt and pepper to taste. To dispense, put in a squeeze bottle with a big enough nozzle to not clog with the seeds.